Investing.com - Australian stocks are expected to open lower on Thursday, mirroring Wall Street's decline. This downturn follows the recent US Federal Reserve meeting that expressed apprehensions about the inability to temper inflation effectively.
ASX 200 Futures dropped 1.3%, reflecting Wall Street's struggles. The S&P 500, slipped by 0.3%, fueled by fears that the Federal Reserve might keep interest rates elevated for an extended period.
The minutes of the two-day Federal Reserve meeting in May revealed that despite the participants' belief that the monetary policy was "well positioned", several officials expressed readiness to tighten the policy further if necessary.
In response to these minutes, US Treasury bonds experienced a drop, with short-dated debt being the most impacted. Additionally, oil prices fell below $US82 a barrel, and gold saw its most significant decline since April, falling 1.7% to around $US2,379 a tonne.
Nvidia's Shining Moment
In the midst of the market downturn, US stocks managed to reduce losses before the close of the bell, thanks to the impressive quarterly results from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). The renowned chipmaker announced record quarterly revenues of $US26 billion, an 18% increase from Q4 and a staggering 262% rise from the previous year. Furthermore, Nvidia announced a 10-for-1 stock split and increased its dividends.
Nvidia's shares rose by 5.7% in extended trading and are set to open above $US1000, marking a first for the company.
However, not all stocks fared as well. BHP (ASX:BHP) Group Ltd ADR (NYSE:BHP) US-listed shares plunged by 4.7% in New York following Anglo American (JO:AGLJ)'s rejection of the miner's latest offer. Despite this, Anglo American has given BHP a week to present a more appealing fourth bid.
Anglo's main concern is the proposed spin-off of the South African assets, which they view as overly risky and expensive.
Among local companies, Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF) is set to release its earnings on Thursday. Several companies, including GQG Partners Inc DRC (ASX:GQG), Karoon Energy (ASX:KAR), Pepper Money Ltd (ASX:PPM), Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG), Stanmore Resources Limited (ASX:SMR), and Ventia Services Group Ltd (ASX:VNT), will be hosting their Annual General Meetings. Meanwhile, Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) and Orica Ltd (ASX:ORI) will trade ex-dividend.